1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a card-type terminal such as a PC card in which a memory card such as a USIM card is installed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Card-type terminals, such as PC cards, equipped with wireless communications capabilities have been used recently. Taking a PC card as an example, it is equipped with wireless communications capabilities for accessing the Internet and is used being inserted in a slot in a notebook personal computer or the like. A memory card called a USIM card is inserted removably in the PC card to store personal information about Internet accesses.
Conventionally, card-type terminals in which a memory card is mounted include those which involve placing the memory card on a tray and inserting the tray, with the memory card placed, into the main body of the card-type terminal through a loading slot.
However, with this type of card-type terminal, the memory card is simply placed on the tray without being secured to it. Consequently, when the user tries to insert the tray, the memory card can easily fall off the tray or become displaced, causing the user to have trouble inserting the tray properly.
Another known type of conventional card-type terminal involves inserting a memory card alone directly into the main body of the card-type terminal through a loading slot. In this case, the memory card, which is small and thin, is not convenient for insertion and withdrawal. Also, the card-type terminal has sharp part of its metal cover exposed in the loading slot, which may damage a memory card when the memory card is inserted.
To solve the problems which can occur when plugging or unplugging a memory card into/from these card-type terminals, a configuration has been proposed which involves inserting a tray into the main body of the card-type terminal with a memory card mounted on the tray and securing the memory card to the tray when it is mounted (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-154210).
However, the structure for securing a memory card to the tray proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-154210 uses hooks protruding toward the center of the tray from both ends of the tray in a direction parallel to the insertion direction of the tray, and thus the memory card is mounted on the tray from a side rather than along the insertion direction of the tray, resulting in poor operability. Also, with the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-154210, the loading slot in the main body of the card-type terminal is open wider upward by the thickness of the hooks, increasing the thickness of the main body of the card-type terminal.